Miller v. Hare

39 L.R.A. 491, 28 S.E. 722, 43 W. Va. 647, 1897 W. Va. LEXIS 67
CourtWest Virginia Supreme Court
DecidedNovember 10, 1897
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 39 L.R.A. 491 (Miller v. Hare) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering West Virginia Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Miller v. Hare, 39 L.R.A. 491, 28 S.E. 722, 43 W. Va. 647, 1897 W. Va. LEXIS 67 (W. Va. 1897).

Opinion

MoWhoRteR, Judge :

D..M. Miller filed in tlie clerk’s office of the Circuit Court of Wood County, on the 24th day of June, 1898, his affidavit for an attachment against, the estate of John A. Hare, on the ground of non-residence of the defendant, claiming that he was justly entitled to receive from the defendant-in the suit which was about to be instituted in the said court the sum of eight hundred dollars, as set out in said affidavit; and at the same timé filed his bond, with security, in the penalty of one thousand six hundred dollars, and caused orders of attachment to be issued from said clerk’s office to the sheriff's of the counties of Wood and Wirt, respectively. The former was levied by the sheriff of Wood County, June 26, 3898, on one barge of ties, containing two thousand ties. The latter was on the same day levied by a constable of Wirt County on one boat load of ties. Defendant afterwards, on the 8th of July, gave bond and took possession of the property so levied upon.

At the July rules plaintiff filed his bill, alleging that he was the owner of a certain boom near the mouth of Hughes river, in Wirt County, W. Va., used for the purpose of catching timber and railroad ties which might, be drifting-in said river; that, said river is one of the large tributaries of the Little Kanawha, and as such a part of the Little Kanawha river; that there was no boom in use for the catching of timber drifting in said Hughes river below the point where plaintiff’s boom was located in said river, and no means, by boom or otherwise, below his boom for the preservation of logs, trees, railroad ties, etc.; that, in the fall of 1892 and the spring of 1893 he caught, in the said boom railroad ties which were drifting in said Hughes river belonging to the defendant, John A. Hare, to the number of nine thousand five hundred ties; that he preserved said ties in said boom, and notified the defendant, John A. Hare, that his ties had been caught, and demanded from him payment of the compensation prescribed by statute in relation to drift. proi>erty, and that defendant wholly refused to pay plaintiff the amount which he was entitled to for catching and preserving them; that he is entitled to receive from the said Hare the sum of six cents for each and every tie caught and preserved by him; that the defendant had recently taken possession of his said [649]*649ties without plaintiff’s consent, and proceeded to load the same in barges; and that, at the time of the institution of this suit, he was shipping the same to market, without »paying plaintiff the amount due him for catching the same, ami without settling with plaintiff, although he had often been requested so to do; and alleging the non-residence of the defendant, and that he had no property within the knowledge of the plaintiff' save and except the property attached in this case, unless it ivas some cross-ties which are still on the waters of the Little Kanawha, but of the quantity or location thereof plaintiff was not advised and could not charge. Further alleging that the said ties were branded by the brand belonging to the said John A. Hare, —that is, the letters “J. H.”; that, had it not been for his catching said ties, the same would have drifted out into the Little Kanawha, and ultimately into the Ohio river, and would have been lost or scattered along said river, by which defendant would have been damaged to a much greater extent than the value fixed by the statute for catching and preserving the ties; that he had preserved said ties in his boom at his own cost and expense; that the said ties filled plaintiff’s boom, and, by reason of the plaintiff’s preserving the ties of defendant, he was totally unable to take care of his own ties, which were too numerous to preserve after said boom was filled with the ties of said defendant, and plaintiff was put to. great cost and expense in securing his . own ties, which drifted out into the Little Kanawha and Ohio rivers, which would not have been the case had plaintiff not caught and preserved the ties of said defendant, — all of which the said defendant well knew at the time he took possession of the ties from plaintiff’s boom, and refused to pay plaintiff' the compensation fixed by statute; that he filed an affidavit, and caused an ouder of attachment to be issued from the clerk’s office of the said court of Wood County, and by virtue of said attachment the sheriff' of Wood County had levied upon and attached a barge of ties, containing about two thousand, as the property of said Hare, which was then in possession of the sheriff; and that a copy of said order of attachment was also sent to the sheriff or any constable of Wirt County, which was levied also upon a lot of ties in Wirt County, and the same were in the possession of [650]*650the officer levying it; and he filed as exhibits the affidavit and order for the attachment. And further charging that the defendant was indebted to him in the sum of two hundred and thirty dollars for a lot of rope which plaintiff furnished to said defendant, to be used by him in securing the timber, ties and logs, in Hughes river, one coil of which rope said defendant used, and one coil was delivered by plaintiff at the barn of Ool. Enoch, near Greenville, and defendant notified that said rope was there subject to his orders upon payment of the costs thereof, and that, said defendant had failed to pay for said rope, and that the plaintiff was justly entitled to recover the value thereof; and charging that he was justly entitled to recover from the defendant, for catching and securing the railroad ties, the sum of five hundred and seventy, dollars, and for the rope furnished to the said defendant the sum of two hundred and thirty dollars, making in all the sum of eight hundred dollars; that he was remediless in the premises, save in a court of equity, where matters of the kind are properly cognizable; and prayed that, he might have a decree against the defendant for the sum of eight hundred dollars, and for the sale of said cross-ties attached in the counties of Wood and Wirt, and out of the proceeds that the costs might be paid, and expenses of levying upon and attaching said cross-ties, and preserving the same in the hands of the sheriff', and for the payment of his claim and interest, and for general relief.

Defendant filed a general demurrer to the bill, and, without waiving his demurrer, filed his answer, denying that the Hughes river is any part of the Little Kanawha river, and averring that it is a separate and distinct river, and so recognized in the history and geographical surveys and delineations on the maps of the State of West Virginia, etc.; and admitting the truth of the allegation that in the fall of 1892 and spring of 1898 there, was no boom in use for the catching of timber drifting in said Hughes river below the point where the plaintiff retained the respondent’s railroad ties in said Hughes river; and charging that, no boom could be maintained in said Hughes river during the years 1892 and 1898, at any point, m said Hughes river, or in said Little Kanawha river, because the same was not allowed by the laws of the State of West Virginia; and [651]*651denying that the plaintiff was or could be the owner of any boom near the mouth of Hughes river, in Wirt County, W.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
39 L.R.A. 491, 28 S.E. 722, 43 W. Va. 647, 1897 W. Va. LEXIS 67, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/miller-v-hare-wva-1897.